I’ve had trip research and planning up to my eyeballs the last few weeks. Luxury problem I know. This one’s been lurking for a few years – the Oz trip, and it finally feels like the right time to go. The money is finally saved up, the timing with work actually fits (sort of) and all signs point to “GO”.
A big part of this trip will be catching up with my great friend Tanya of 12 years. We met in Vancouver all those years ago where we worked in a bike shop near Stanley Park – she was on a work visa and I was between semesters at university. Man alive we had so much fun. She’s always had this rule about doing something new and boundary-pushing on her birthday – so despite her fear of heights – the 4 of us went sky diving in Abbotsford that September. The plane was too small to hold more than 5 people (the pilot, 2 jumpers and 2 tandem instructors) – so we split into two groups. I won’t ever forget laying on the grass with her sister before it was our turn, the plane so far up that when they jumped out they weren’t more than specks in the sky – and we could hear her. We could hear her screaming from all the way up there. I have to give it to the woman – afraid of heights and jumping out of a plane – she’s got some balls. Whether the instructor got his hearing back after that is another story. I think the last time I saw her was about 6 years ago when she was back in Vancouver on her way up to Alaska. So it’s about bloody time we met up again, and I can’t wait.
There are some (too many) weeks yet till we leave, but we’ll be traveling the east coast of Australia – flying around a bit so that we can work Tanya’s 2 week holiday in with something she’s never seen – The Blue Mountains, and so that we can avoid spending our days behind the wheel of a car (which doesn’t really appeal to either of us). We might give up seeing some of the things in between, but we’ll have more time to enjoy the places we do see – is our thinking. That said – we’ll be renting a car a couple of times- up in Cairns/ Port Douglas for some not too far away day trips into the rainforest at Cape Tribulation, and then in Melbourne so that we can drive the Great Ocean Road for a couple of days as well. Tanya will be showing us the Gold Coast/ Byron Bay, and we’ll be on Fraser Island for some days with a group. Tasmania’s on the list (the planning for which has been delegated to Jan) and then it’s on to New Zealand. We’d originally planned to combine the Oz trip with Vietnam/Cambodia – but we’d hit monsoon season in SE Asia – and that doesn’t sound too brilliant – Angkor Wat or not. So that stays on the list for now. When Jan suggests a weekend in a summer house in Sweden, he says I can add it to the list as number 427.
The second (smaller) half of our trip is to the North Island of New Zealand. There seems to be a lot of debate about what to see if you only have 3 weeks in NZ (and again – aren’t into driving 8 hours a day), and while a lot of friends and forums have leaned towards the South Island – the North Island looks to have a greater contrast in landscape. By that I mean that it looks less like what I’m used to (the South Island looks – in photos – a LOT like British Columbia, which I LOVE, but which isn’t something super new. But it IS reason to go back… We’ll finish up in Abel Tasman Nation Park though – so we will see just a bit of the SI. Otherwise it’s Bay of Islands, Coromandel Peninsula, Whakatane (White Island), Rotorura, Waitamo, Wellington and then Abel Tasman.
If anyone’s got any suggestions (what you liked best) or tips on what you think we might like to try to see/try/taste/experience while we’re there – let me know!
